Selling outside the US on ebay??

Does anyone have experience selling bills or coins on ebay to countries other than the US?

 

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Yes, Norway, Russia, Ukraine, Taiwan, Canada, UK(a lot), Netherlands. I would avoid Russia a lot of the time and avoid Italy(post office thieves). It has been awhile since I was adventurous and young and dumb enough to sell on fleaBay. Frankly I don't like being charged for this and that - I feel nickeled and dimed out of breathing space with all the payPoo stuff too.

BST - way to go.

 

Sorry I'm new to listing stuff online. What's BST? Is it worth it to list US bills I. Other fountries? I hear vietnam pays ridiculous amounts for $2 bills

 

I know over in E. Europe you could get free drinks, ie vodka for $2 bills because they were so unusual there.

 

I wouldn't chance it with Ebay. All that really has to happen is your package gets hung up in customs somewhere and they file a did not receive claim and you will lose. Australia or Canada I may consider on a case to case basis but I barely like selling domestically there at this point much less internationally.

If I am going to pay a fee I would rather pay it to a place like Great Collections that will actually provide protection to their sellers instead of paying to give people the chance to scam me.

 

There are some things which lend themselves to overseas audiences, such as issues from a destination country. Ebay is a quagmire for that, though, and aside selective First World destinations I don't sell overseas any more. Even then I pray for a buyer with an established record.

 

Over 1,000 transactions. I only ship to US and Canada. Perhaps shipped to Canada 25 times. Canada was the only time a buyer didn't receive my package. I used USPS. If you use FedEx or USPS much better chance package will arrive. Downside is custom charges for Cdn buyers is higher with those last two. Many time USPS packages slide thru customs.

 

I'm in agreement here. I'd never consider shipping outside the U.S. and Canada. I know I limit myself, but the further away it goes, the better chance of something going wrong. Those who DO ship worldwide, more power to you!!

 

I' m so sad nobody wants to send his or her coins to good old Germany

 

There are some steps you can take to minimise risk.

Do not sell US coins and currency except lower grade and always raw, no overseas buyer will pay you extra for a slab.

You can insure numismatic coins and bills with a transit insurer like shipsurance. They do not cover 'money' but items of numismatic value are covered, read their terms and conditions for excluded countries and details of cover.

Never use the prefill customs description on the ebay postal label, always edit the description to a brief 'Numismatic material' and personally I never put a value of over $20.

Notes and coins from around the world tend to find the best prices around the world. From Britain I have sold notes and coins to dozens of countries.Never had a problem of any consequence.(Also never sent anything with tracking.)

Use basic First Class International mail. For any item under 4 pounds weight it gets exactly the same treatment as Priority, but costs less. Never use a flat rate envelope or box without filling it to the weight limit, they are poor value half filled.

USSPS has electronic delivery confirmation to a whole raft of countries at no extra cost if you buy your postage online.

Avoid the ebay GSP at all costs, it is wildly unsuitable for any lightweight item of relatively low value.

 

It's too bad that the post offices of the world are rarely held liable for any missing packages, instead it's the guy that dropped the package off that's liable for the package being lost in a differnt state/country

 

but the further away it goes, the better chance of something going wrong

False logic, actually. The distance part is done sealed in the cargo hold of an aircraft, or in a cargo pallet. The actual amount of handling is about the same if you ship to Ackron or Australia.

Just avoid the countries you cannot insure to. Although usually this is not a problem, not many ebayers in Upper Volta.

 

You might want to be careful doing that. If you declare a value of just $20 or less on a higher value item, you might find that if it goes missing your insurer may refuse to compensate for more than the declared value on the postal label.

 

I sell a lot of world coins on eBay and I ship to most countries. I have had a few things disappear but almost always it's to more questionable countries like Russia and India and former Soviet republics. Never had a problem to Western Europe and only once had something get lost in South America. I've never tried selling U.S. coins overseas but with world coins you can often get much more money if someone over there really wants it. You can restrict which countries you ship to so if you want to try it out, start with Canada and Europe, minus Russia and maybe Italy.

 

Anyone habe any experience with selling to vietnam?

 

Yes - Global Shipping Program. I ship domestically to the shipping center in Erlanger, KY, and eBay (or its third party shipping provider) takes care of the rest.

No customs form or anything and it costs the same to me. It's like shipping something to another US state... errr... it's exactly just that!

 

If you declare a value of just $20 or less on a higher value item, you might find that if it goes missing your insurer may refuse to compensate for more than the declared value on the postal label.

The insurance company, assuming you are sensibly using an independent like U-Pic or Shipsurance never knows what value you put on the customs form. I imagine they would prefer a low value because the item is less likely to be stolen.
Theft in transit is rare, but why make it easy for anyone so minded by labelling your item as valuable?

 

No customs form or anything and it costs the same to me. It's like shipping something to another US state... errr... it's exactly just that!

For lightweight and often modest value items the GSP is loathed the world over, for the extra costs it piles on for buyers. It is the best way ever to deter any international customers. It is only suitable for heavy, bulky or valuable, fraud prone items.

I dare say most US sellers using the GSP have no idea how expensive it is for buyers because they never see what the overseas buyer sees.

 

True, most sellers don't know what the buyers will get charged.

But, if the alternative is that the seller won't sell internationally at all, then it may be a good option.

 

But, if the alternative is that the seller won't sell internationally at all, then it may be a good option.


Possibly if more sellers knew how to sell worldwide with minimal risk, there would be no need for such a barrier to sales.

It has always seemed to me that irrational prejudice is the most pressing reason for US only sellers. Beats me ho some manage to bring themselves to sell outside their native villages.